The Nationals acquired Early (elbow) from the Red Sox on Saturday in exchange for Curtis Mead, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
Early is currently on the 15-day injured list due to left elbow inflammation, but he's been throwing for the past week and is expected to head out on a rehab assignment in the near future. Boston had a surplus of starting pitchers and chose to ship out Early to address the team's need for added thump to the lineup. In the 24-year-old Early, the Nationals get a young arm who can occupy a spot in the rotation for years to come. Across 21 career starts, Early has a 3.24 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 122:38 K:BB spanning 111 innings.